One bad day can keep the apples away

Rick Melone rides the tractor at Clearview Farm.
Danielle Ray photo The unseasonably warm winter weather led to an early spring and a farming schedule that was thrown off by crops that decided to appear weeks earlier than normal.

This was no different for apples, and the many orchards in town were greatly affected one way or another by the mild temperatures.

Rick Melone and his wife Diane run Clearview Farm on Kendall Hill Road. They saw an increase in wholesale business to areas across New England from their apple crop that was able to remain strong and steady throughout the season.

“There are not a lot of apples, it has been very spotty,” Melone said of other regional orchards. “There are a lot of farms that just don’t have apples.”

Jim French in Sterling has been less successful this season. He has seen few, if any, apples on his trees.

“I have zero apple crops this season because of an early bloom this past spring that was affected by frost,” French said. “I guess you could say we are the victim of climate change. Last year was the best crop I have had in 10 years; it is a very fickle business.”

One of the most daunting factors to a successful season is frost. The delicate apple blossoms that appear in the spring are very susceptible to frost. One good frost during a 24-hour period when the blossoms are most vulnerable can wipe out an entire orchard.

“Sometimes only a week makes a difference,” Melone said.

Dave Chandler, Jr. of Meadowbrook Orchards on Chace Hill Road said they were lucky to have a successful apple crop this season.

“We were fortunate,” he said. “The really tough part about apples is you can easily get wiped out one night, and your source of income is gone.”

Chandler said orchards in Bolton were sending pick-your-own customers his way because they just didn’t have ample apple crops.

“There were a lot of areas that were affected this year,” said Chandler. “Every year is a little bit different. A couple years ago we had a gigantic crop like everyone else, and other years we have a smaller crop. We have a really nice crop this year and the outlook is really good on that, which is good for us.”

Melone credits his location to his success. Because the farm is located at a higher elevation than some others, he is one of the last to get a frost in the fall/ winter season. The last frost of the winter/ spring also tends to arrive earlier than farms located in lower evaluations, before the blooms are affected.

Apple picking at Clearview started earlier this season because of warmer temperatures in the spring, said Melone. “We tend to have bigger crowds toward the end of the season, but we had some very busy weekends early on because apples were out earlier. It’s a heavy crop.”

While French does not offer pick-yourown apples like Clearview, Davis Farm and Meadowbrook Orchards do, he does harvest his heirloom apples to sell at his store in West Sterling.

“Sometimes we grow enough to meet demand, sometimes we have to purchase other apples to meet the demand,” he said. “I have varieties that are hard to find. I [had] a lot of disappointed customers this year.’’